Imetti emo minua

SKVR IV1 1346·Serepetta·1861·Collector: Groundström, Oskar

In the SKVR edition: Medussi, Ruditsa. O. Groundstroem. n. 5. 1861. Okoi.

Song type: Suka mereen

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SKVR textEnglish

1Imetti emo minua,My mother nursed me,

2Imetti, siloitti päätäNursed me, groomed my head,

3Alta kuuven kulta markan,From beneath the moon’s golden mark,

4Solen seitsemän seasta,From the seven of the strait’s swarm,

5Imetti, siloitti päätä,Nursed me, groomed my head,

6Kasvoi minul hieno hiuksi;For me grew splendid hair;

7Ei voi suka sukkia,The comb could not comb it,

8Sian harja harjaella.Nor the pig’s bristle brush groom it.

9Oli minul aino vello,I had one brother,

10Vello syötetty, juotettu,A brother fed and watered,

11Kalaitsulle kasvatettu.Raised to tend the fish.

12Meni velloine Viroon,He went to Estonia with my brother,

13Toi tuolta suan suloisen,Brought back a sweet pig,

14Sian harjaksen siliän.A smooth-bristled swine brush.

15Mänin meren rantuelle,I went to the sea’s edge,

16Istuisin meren kivelle,Sat upon a sea-stone,

17Aloin päätäni sukia,Began to comb my head,

18Hiuksiani harjaella:To brush my hair:

19Suilahti suka merehen;The comb slipped into the sea;

20Painuttaisin ottamahan,I bent to retrieve it,

21Suilahtin suan jälestä,Slid after the swine,

22Menin vyöltä vetehen,Went waist-deep into water,

23Kaklast menin kalan kutuu.From strife, to the fish’s spawn I went.

24Tarttui miekka rintoiheni,A sword clung to my chest,

25Miekkan heltot helmihini.Its hilt to my jewels.

26Toin mie miekan tälle maalle,I brought the sword to this land,

27Tuota suutit suuret herrat,Then the great lords accused,

28Tuota vaatit vanhat herrat:The old lords demanded:

29"Jo tämä miekka miest on syönnut,"This sword has devoured men,

30Rauta on rajonut uron,Iron has hewn heroes,

31Teräs tempoinut poikoloi."Steel snatched young men."

32Miekko kielölle paneli:The sword spoke on oath:

33"Ei o miekka miestä syönnyt,"The sword ate no men,

34Rauta ej o raajont uroita;Iron mangled no heroes;

35Tää miekka on merest tuotu."This sword came from the sea."

36Tuota suutit suuret herrat:Then the great lords asked:

37"Kelle miekka, kulle miekka?""Whose sword, to whom does it belong?"

38Minä vastan vastaelin:I answered in turn:

39"Vet ei kell kuin vellolleni.""To none but my brother it belongs."

English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies.

The text is that of the SKVR digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), with these changes:

The editors’ signs inside the verses ([ ], ⌈ ⌉, *, [!], [?]) are left out, as in the poem reader; the letters they enclose are kept.
The edition’s line numbers are replaced by a number on every verse, counted as in the poem reader.
The editors’ notes, and the marks in the verses that point to them, are left out; they can be read at SKS.

Source

Text: SKVR (Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot), the digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-013015 · Read at SKS ↗

Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.